Secrets of the Children
by TheFoundersDaughter
Summary: Trip and T'Pol have their first child, T'Keira, and are living a generally happy life on Enterprise. At the same time, One is reading 'Alice in Wonderland' on an escape pod with her Nurse, Julia, running from Paxton. Rated T for Child Abuse. R&R? x
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I've been watching (yet again) TnT video's on youtube…I'd make one, but I have no clips :'( I've decided to attempt at writing another TnT fic. Don't be surprised if it becomes an absolute fail. I have a tendency to let my stories become fails -_-**

She was used to being alone. Her nurse came to see her four times a day, to bring her food, and then take away the tray, and she'd see the men with guns outside of her window, but that was it. She had no name, but was called One. She had never understood this, considering she was three years old, but thought that she had been named that when she was one, and it must have been too much trouble to change her name every year. She didn't like her name, and often asked her nurse to call her Pixie, because of her ears.

She never did.

One tucked her mousy hair behind her pointy ears, and continued to look at her book. It was called 'Alice in Wonderland', and it was about a girl called Alice in a magic place with a Cheshire cat, a mad hatter, and a white rabbit. What One liked about it the most was that it had lots of pictures. The Cheshire cat looked a bit scary with its manic smile, and One wondered if all cats looked that way.

A buzz sounded at the big, metal door, and it opened. Her nurse walked into the room, and smiled at One, "Good evening, One."

"Good evening, Julia." One replied in her sweet and adorable voice.

Julia caught a glimpse of the book One was holding between her petite fingers, "Alice in Wonderland?" One nodded, "That's a very good book. I read it myself as a child, but I was a little older than you."

"Is it a happy ending?"

Julia smiled to her, "All stories have happy endings." She placed the tray of food onto her table, and motioned for One to sit down, "Come on and eat your dinner. It's your favourite."

"Lasagne?" One asked, a smile playing on her lips.

"That is your favourite is it not?" Julia raised her eyebrow at One.

One nodded exuberantly, closed 'Alice in Wonderland', put it on her bed, and sat on the uncomfortable metal chair in front of her dinner. "Thank you, Julia."

"You're welcome. Now eat up, I'll be back in half an hour to take the tray away and take you for your shower." And then she left, leaving One alone again. One couldn't help but think, would her life always be this way? She may have only been three, but she had the intellectual levels of a child of eleven on Terra, and a child of seven on Vulcan. That was a plus about being half-and-half. And the ears.

She loved her ears.

=A=

T'Pol opened her eyes to the sound of her daughter whimpering in her Moses basket beside her bed. Sitting up, T'Pol could tell that T'Keira was sleeping soundly, and she pondered for a moment as to who the person who had whimpered could be. It had sounded so much like her three months old daughter, but knowing that it could not have been her, T'Pol tied her dressing gown around herself, and stood up.

She looked around the room for a moment, her eyes lingering on both her daughter and her husband, and then silently walked to the door. Popping her head out, she expected to see people walking about the corridor, but to her shock, there was nobody. Not a single person.

Well, it was the graveyard shift, and less people worked on that shift for some reason. T'Pol shook her head and went back to bed. She was overtired, caring for T'Keira during the day, and trying to sleep through her cries during the night.

"What's up?" Trip asked her, wrapping his strong arms around her slim body.

"I thought I heard something." She replied, and leant herself into Trip's body, "It was nothing."

Trip kissed the back of her head, "Try and sleep. She might sleep through the entire night tonight."

"Perhaps…" As if to jinx what they had said, T'Keira burst into violent cries, and both parents groaned. "Not."

=A=

Julia Stiles listened to what Paxton was telling his most trusted follower.

"The girl is getting to be an annoyance. We've dealt with it for three years, waiting to reveal it to the universe, and it was all for nothing. We are wasting resources on the Hybrid. She is of no use now. Kill it."

Julia covered her mouth with her hands to stop herself from screaming.

"When?"

"Not today, that dratted Stiles woman would cause too much trouble. Tomorrow. 09:00 hours. Kill it however you please, but make sure it's dead."

"What about Two, Three and Four?"

Paxton was silent a moment, "They may prove to be useful for us. Leave them alone."

Julia edged her way down the corridor, then walked in a brisk pace – as to not look suspicious – to One's room. She buzzed in, and opened the door. One was sitting on her bed, reading 'Alice in Wonderland' again. It was an old copy, and many of the pages were loose and nearly falling out.

She was dressed in a toga style white dress, and had little ballet flats on her tiny feet. She looked up, "Has it been half an hour already?" One asked.

"No…no. One, put your jumper on. We have to go." Julia was frantic, and quickly got One's jumper from her closet, and held it out for One to put her arms through. As soon as she had, Julia grabbed One's hand, and pulled her out of the room.

One had her book in her spare hand, and was running to keep up with Julia, "Julia, w-where are we going?"

"On a trip."

"Like Alice?" One gasped, and smiled.

"Just like Alice." She took One around a corner. Then another, and another, until they reached a wall with three round doors in. She opened the middle one, and pushed One in, then climbed in herself.

The shuttle that they got into wasn't even really a shuttle, more an escape pod. It was rounded at the bottom, and narrowed to the top. Julia closed the small hatch behind them, and spun the lock. "Julia, I'm scared." One said quietly, and nibbled at her pink lips.

"Hey, don't worry. We'll be out of this place soon, don't you worry." Julia then did something she hadn't done since One was a baby. She gave her a hug. Julia pressed a few buttons, and pulled a lever, and then they were off. Flying off of Mars, and into space… to Enterprise.

**A/N: Well, chapter one is completed. If people like this, then I'll carry on. If not, it can stand alone as a one-shot.**** Either way, this is fun to write, and I'm hoping I can do this chapter honour by making an even better second chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Yes. I know it's been months. Yes. You may murder me. No. I won't be updating for a few weeks. **** I CAN EXPLAIN. I'm moving to another country! :O We're moving in about 4 weeks, and we won't have internet connection for about two weeks after we move into the new house (IN AUSTRALIA!) so…yeah, I have an excuse for the next chapter :3**

**Songs**_**: t.A.T.u**____**-**____**Loves Me Not**____**.**__**t.A.T.u**____**-**____**Not Gonna Get Us**____**.**__**Entwine - Nothing's Forever.**__**EarlyRise – Narci**__**ssi**__**stic Cannibal**__**.**_

"J-Julia?" One stuttered, then shivered. It was very cold, and Julia wouldn't wake up. One slowly crawled along the floor, to shake Julia's shoulder. "Julia…wake up! Julia!" tears had started welling up in her eyes, and made them sting.

A tear fell from her left eye, and it froze on her cheek. Her mouth felt very dry, and her stomach hurt, and she didn't know why. It was just so, so cold. One clutched her book to her chest, and lay herself next to Julia's stone cold body and closed her sapphire eyes, whimpering.

=A=

Archer stared at the small, white mix between a shuttle and an escape pod. "Hoshi?"

"There's one life sign in it, but I can' get a clear reading. One second it says Vulcan, the next Human… I can't tell... it looks to be a child though." Hoshi pressed some buttons, "It's fading… fast."

"Can you transport it in?" Archer asked.

"Yes, but it'll take a minute or so. I'm not sure the child has that long, sir."

Jonathon rubbed his eyes, "Alright, transport the kid over, then get the shuttle…thing."

"Yes sir."

Archer walked over to the Comm. System, "Phlox."

"Captain?" was Phlox's surprised reply.

"I'm sending up a child to you, whose vital signs are dwindling fast."

"A child? Um, of course, captain."

=A=

Phlox looked at the little girl on the biobed, and sighed. She was unconscious, but was now fully hydrated. She would be fed when she woke up. He was waiting for Captain Archer to come with Commander Tucker and Sub-Commander T'Pol, to explain the well-being of the girl. He knew that right now they were beaming the shuttle aboard, so that they could examine it to tell where the child was from.

She was an odd mix, with fine, wispy mouse-coloured hair, dark tan skin and sparkling blue eyes. Besides those minute facts, she also had red blood, which had been oozing from a small cut on her forehead, and a Vulcan's pair of ears, though they were covered by her hair at that moment.

Phlox already had a theory about her, and his theories were hardly ever wrong. Though he did not want to voice his opinion just yet, he wanted to make sure that it was right, and softly snipped off a few strands of her silken hair. He put the hair in a small testing tube, and decided that it wouldn't be best to perform the DNA test when the three top officers on board the ship were coming to see the child.

Phlox turned his head towards the doors as they opened for Trip, T'Pol, little T'Keira in T'Pol's arms, and Jon. "Ah, you're here! Excellent."

"How is she?" Jon asked almost immediately.

"Fine, fine. All hydrated again, and well rested." Phlox smiled at the child, "She should be waking up soon." His eyes shifted slightly guiltily over to the couple, then drifted back towards the young girl. "Look at this," he gestured the trio towards the little girl, and lifted her hand, turning it until her wrist was facing upwards. There, tattooed into her skin with black ink, was a very small 1.

"What does it mean?"

"Many things, captain, but probably, and most likely, that she is the first of something."

"The first of what, Phlox?" T'Pol asked gently, as she patted T'Keira's back.

Phlox shook his head, "That, I don't know."

Trip ran his hand through his hair, "Mal found a woman in the shuttle. She had some work suit on, like an overall. Said 'J. Stiles' on the back and the chest."

"I can check through the database." T'Pol quickly said, and started to pass T'Keira over to Trip, when the four heard a small, startled cry from the biobed. Turning their heads, they set their eyes upon a child with bright blue eyes, staring at them in fright. She was breathing heavily, and had brought up her hands to her mouth, biting down on her thumbs.

"Where's Julia?" her voice came out muffled and almost silent.

Phlox walked to her bedside, and smiled down warmly, "Hello there, I'm Phlox, and this is-"

"Where's Julia?" the girl's voice came out slightly stronger.

Jon tapped Phlox on the shoulder, "Do you think it's…"

"Yes, yes, probably." He sighed, and turned back to the girl, "Do you remember anything?"

She nodded, ever so slightly, "I…I was with Julia…in…in a little room…she wouldn't wake up…and it was so…so cold…and…" tears had started to pool in her eyes, and her breathing became hitched, "Where's Julia?"

Jon looked at the small girl, "Honey, do you think you could tell me your name?"

The girl pulled her legs up to her chest, and stared at him with fright, her eyes flitting between each person in the room. Finally, she took a deep breath, and whispered, barely audible, "One…my name is One."

"One?" Jon glanced at his comrades, who all – par T'Pol, who's eyebrows merely rose – had the same, stricken expression. The girl nodded when he looked back at her, "Well, One, do you think you could come with me? I want to know if the lady we found with you is Julia."

"O…okay." The girl sat up, and the hair that was covering her ears fell forward, revealing the tips of her ears. Trip's eyes widened and he looked at T'Pol, who was looking back at him, then down at his sleeping daughter who was snuggled into his shoulder.

One silently started fiddling with her right ear, biting her lips. The white toga dress she wore hung limply on her body, the cardigan doing apparently nothing, due to the hole design that it had been knitted in, and she looked down at her clasped hands, "C-can I have a drink please?"

Phlox gave her a reassuring smile, "Of course you can. Here." He handed her a small glass of water that had been on his desk for when she woke up.

She took it tentatively, and dared a look to his eyes, "Thank you…"

Whoever 'One' was, she had impeccable manners, and Phlox smiled down at her. It was rare he came upon patients who revered him with such politeness. One put the glass down next to her, "I'm ready to go with you now."

=A=

One walked behind Jon, her ballet slippers gaining a film of grey dust, and looked around her in wonder. This place was nothing like her room. Here, the walls were silver, the floors carpeted grey; instead of the bright white she was so used to seeing, and linoleum she walked across in her room.

Trip was still holding little T'Keira in his arms as he and T'Pol flanked One at her sides, slightly behind. He looked down at the light brown hair on the small child that – for some reason – he thought resembled his own darling daughter so much. He knew that the Morgue could be the only place they were going, and his heart welled in sympathy.

Jon led the group to the left, where the door to the Morgue stood. He paused a moment, and One glanced up at him. He looked down, giving her a small, reassuring smile, then pressed the button for entrance into the room. A woman lay on a metal bench, her skin a greyish pallor, her chest cold and unmoving.

"_Julia!_" One's scream echoed throughout the Morgue, and she ran towards the dead body. She shook Julia's shoulders, "Julia! Wake up! Wake up, please!" Her voice became a whimper again, "Why won't she wake up?"

T'Pol looked at her husband, and took T'Keira from him, whilst looking inquisitively at One. "Tell her. She won't understand if I tell her."

Trip rubbed his face over with his hands, and sighed as he stepped forward to the young child. Crouching down next to her, he put a hand on her shoulder, and turned her to face him, "One…Julia's not sleeping."

"Of course she is! What else could she be doing?"

Trip groaned inwardly, "Have…have you ever heard of Death?"

One shook her head, "What's that?"

He felt like slamming his head against a brick wall. _She should know…_ "Death is when…death is when people die. When they aren't living anymore. They fall to sleep, and they…they never wake up."

One stared at Trip with her huge eyes, "N-never?"

He shook his head, "Never."

One stepped back from him, and looked at the corpse beside her. She reached up and took Julia's cold, clammy hand, and squeezed it as tight as she could. Hot tears filled her eyes, making her blue eyes shine like the sun-brightened ocean. "Have pretty dreams Julia…" her voice cut off as she choked on her sobs, salt water pouring down her cheeks.

Warm arms enclosed her, and she let herself break. The only person she had ever known her whole life was going to sleep forever. She was never going to wake up. Ever.

Eventually, exhaustion took over her body, and she vaguely registered herself being picked up and moved onto a bed. The sorrow – an emotion she had never felt before – was too much for her mind to allow, and forced her into a slumber.

"Was it?" Phlox asked Archer when he and Trip had returned with One.

A curt nod was the reply, "We'll contact her family – if she has one. Tell them the news."

"Yes, probably for the best. Should we keep her in here?" He signalled towards One, who lay on a biobed curled into her side, sheet covering her, "It really isn't the place for children…"

Jon sighed, "Until we find out who her real parents are, we'll keep her here." He looked at Phlox, "I want you to do a DNA test on her. She isn't human, that much is obvious, but she isn't Vulcan or Romulan either. Find out what she is, how old she is, and who her parents could be."

"Yes, Captain."

"Wait, Cap'n, me and T'Pol could have her." Trip came forward, "God knows we got enough experience with T'Keira. And I used to look after Lizzie when I was younger." He looked sheepishly between Phlox and Jon.

"You think T'Pol's going to be okay with that?" Jon raised his eyebrows in doubt.

Trip shrugged, "Sure, why not?"

"Because you have a baby to look after? And you don't know this little girl?" Jon replied, his voice showing slight exasperation.

"I can handle it, and so can T'Pol!"

"Trip…I know you mean well, but I can't let you take on the role of father to this girl when she has another one out there." Archer replied, and put his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"It might make her mentality less… stable." Phlox gave Trip a small, sad smile, "We don't know how she was brought up. For all we know, she could be a trained killer."

"A kid like that? No way." Trip batted away the idea.

"Trip, we don't know." Jon patted his friends shoulder, "Go to T'Pol. I'm sure she's missing you. And you can't really leave her with T'Keira all night can you?"

A small chuckle escaped Trip's lips, "Yeah, she'd kill me if I did that." He sighed, "Alright. I'll go. Night Cap'n."

"Night Trip."

"Doc." Trip nodded towards Phlox.

"Goodnight Commander."

The doors opened and closed, leaving Phlox with Jon and little One.

"Doctor, I want you to do a DNA test on her as soon as possible."

"Captain, I've already done one." Phlox admitted quietly, averting his eyes.

"What?" Jon's eyes bugged.

"I haven't looked at the results yet though." Phlox walked over to his computer, "I knew you'd want to know. I thought it best to do it earlier, so there was no waiting." He began tapping on his keyboard.

Archer rubbed his face, "Thanks. So, what's her verdict?"

Phlox stared at the screen, tapped a few more keys, and another window popped up next to One's DNA analysis. There were three more DNA strands. Tapping on his keys, Phlox took a copy of DNA from the top one, and a copy from the bottom, and placed them over One's.

A match.

"Captain…she's the daughter of Sub-Commander T'Pol and Commander Tucker."

**A/N2: Okay, this took long enough. I really hope you like it! Please review! I'm actually moving to Australia in a few weeks, so I won't really be able to update/review on much stuff, but I'm hoping to get back to writing ASAP :D**

**~chaz~**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE LOVELY REVIEWS! For everyone asking about the time-setting, all will be explained :)**

_Music: Cruskin – This Is What I am. Blue Stahli – Corner(dubstep mix). Entwine – Nothing's Forever._

Three children, assembled in line against a white wall. Two boys, one girl.

A tall, well-built man stood before them, glaring down. If he hated anything more than Aliens, it was hybrids between them and Humans.

He had already lost out on the chance to kill one. That dratted Stiles had stolen it.

These three children had never met, but they knew that they were not allowed to move unless Carson told them to. Military routines were written into their blood through merciless training. Each one was as deadly as a boar constrictor to a mouse.

Carson raised his hand, and tucked in his first finger. The three children immediately lunged forwards and punched the air in front of them with their right fists, their left fists underneath their chins, curled into fists. The children's faces remained expressionless, and Carson's lips curled upwards at the corners into a sick, malevolent grin.

The first boy in the line had obvious Klingon attributions to his genetic material. His skin was a dark tan, his hair black with soft waves to his shoulders, and three ridges slightly showing on his forehead. He couldn't be more than three years old.

The second boy, who looked around the same age, looked like any normal Human boy. Except his hairline and above his eyebrows, there was not skin. Instead, he had dark green scales that merged into the skin on his face. His deep green eyes had slightly too-large irises, and his hair was the colour of sand. His ears came out of scales on the sides of his head. If anything, he represented a reptile-human child.

The girl, who also looked around three years old, was the most Human-like in appearance. Her skin was very pale, and in sunlight, had the colour of a very pale blue. Her eyes were a very dark brown, and her hair was long, curly and white. Pure white. Her body frame was slightly thinner and shorter than the two boys, but her age was still prominent.

"Stand to attention." Carson commanded, and the three children stood straight again. Carson looked down the small line with hate in his cold eyes, and spoke in a commandeering voice, "You are alive for one reason, and one reason only. To make those dratted Aliens who call themselves 'allies' leave Terra in peace, and make sure that no other abominations are ever created." He walked down the line, then back up. He leant down, sticking his face in front of the first boy's face, "You. You are an abomination." Every second, his face became ever more hateful.

"All three of you. As is the child who has escaped." Carson watched the three children's expression slightly show confusion. Just as they never knew about each other, they never knew about One either. "As punishment for it's escape, you will_ all_ have thirty lashes. Take off your clothes , and turn to face the wall."

The children's eyes shone with the fear of whippings. Already, they had been whipped before, for being incompetent in their training. In silence, they stripped to their skin, and turned. The middle boy's back was finally shown. Scales. Running from the sides and back of his neck down his shoulder blades, curving into his spine, and down to a long, thin tail, swishing between his legs.

And scars.

All three of them, covered in thin scars all down the back of their bodies.

Carson unravelled the leather horse whip from where it lay on the floor, cracked it, and stepped forwards. He raised his arm, and let the whip cut through the flesh of the first little boy.

=A=

One's eyes fluttered open. She shivered, and pulled her cardigan around her body tighter. She felt a sheet over her body, and wrapped her little fingers around it, comforting herself.

When she was alone, with just Julia, the men who looked at her through her bedroom window, and her teacher, she could deal with what happened to her. Julia would give her sad smiles and small

comforts, tend to the whipping wounds caused by her teacher. Tell her that things would be okay. But now, Julia was going to sleep forever. She wasn't going to wake up. She wasn't going to give her smiles or comforts, hugs that were rare enough were never going to be given to her again.

Crying was all she could do.

A small pressure on her arm, and One jumped up and scrambled to the back of the bio-bed, putting herself and the hand that touched her as far apart as possible. She looked up, and saw the man. The nice man. The one who cuddled her.

She let herself relax slightly. Even if she didn't know him, she felt that she could trust him.

"Mornin'," he smiled at her, and lifted a bowl, "Want some breakfast?"

One slowly looked around the room. The man that had scales and was referred to as 'Doc' was in the corner of the room, looking down at a screen of some sort. Another man stood behind him – the one who'd asked her lots of questions. She looked back at the nice man, "Who are you?"

He smiled, "Trip's the name. And this here's called porridge," he gave the bowl a small flick, "you want it?"

One looked at the white, spongy porridge. She nodded, "Yes please."

As Trip handed her the bowl, Archer came through the doors, and called for him, "Trip, can you meet me in my ready room later?"

"Sure thing Cap'n." Trip replied, giving Jon a smile.

"Oh, and, could…could you bring T'Pol with you?"

Trip's eyebrows furrowed, but he nodded, "Okay."

One's eyes suddenly became round with fear, "Please don't leave me!"

"Hey, calm down. I'm not going nowhere yet." Trip smiled kindly to the small child, ad placed a hand on her bare leg in an effort to calm her down.

"But…but you just said-"

"Later."

"Thank you, Trip." One whispered, and smiled ever-so-slightly, when he smiled at her.

The two then began to talk –well, mostly Trip, as One wouldn't talk much – about Earth, what space was like, and fairytales. That was the only thing One would converse in. "I like books."

"Yeah? Me too. Never could beat Peter Pan as a kid."

The corners of One's lips turned upwards, "I like Alice."

"Alice in Wonderland?" One nodded, "Good story that is. I used to read it to my sister when I was a kid."

"You have a sister?"

"Had. She…she died." Trip's head lowered.

"Like Julia?" One asked, and Trip nodded, "Oh…sorry."

He waved it off, "Nah, it's okay. Nearly two years ago now."

One fidgeted slightly, then piped up, "Sir…why are you so nice to me?"

"Well…you're a kid for starters…and, well, you remind me of my sister. She looked a bit like you, y'know. You got the same colour eyes, and the same button nose." Trip tapped One's nose, making her giggle quietly.

Phlox came and stood next to Trip, and began to talk to him, "Commander, I don't like to intrude, but perhaps it's time that you go to see the Captain. You've been here for over an hour."

Trip's eyes widened, "Have I?" Phlox nodded at him, "Oh…right, well, I'll go get T'Pol then." He turned back to one, "I've gotta go now hon. Phlox'll look after you. He's nice, so don't worry 'bout him, okay?"

One bit down on her lips, and nodded her head, "Okay." Trip smiled at her, gave her a pat on her cardigan covered shoulder, and left the medical bay.

=A=

Archer looked to the couple standing before him. "I think you better sit down."

The duo exchanged looks, then sat down on the sofa. "What's up Cap'n?" Trip asked, his left hand holding onto T'Pol's right.

Jon clasped his fists together, and rested the bridge of his nose on them as he looked at the couple, "About…One. We need to talk about her."

"For what reason? Have you determined which species she is?" T'Pol asked.

"Yes…"

Trip looked at his friend, egging him on, "And…"

He took a deep breath, "One is yours."

Silence. Pure and utter silence. It seemed to stretched for an age, until Trip spoke up, "What do you mean she's ours?"

"I mean she's yours. One is your daughter."

T'Pol's eyebrows furrowed slightly, "How can you be certain?"

"I had Phlox perform a DNA test. At first it just said Human and Vulcan DNA, but when he compared it to the Ship's records, you two were the perfect DNA match."

"So…that…that poor little girl…is our daughter?" Trip asked, his voice weaker than before.

Jon nodded, "Yes."

"How?" T'Pol's voice showing the emotion her face could not. She leaned against Trip.

"Phlox believes she was created by cloning your DNA together. I asked him to perform a full-body diagnosis on her."

"Why? She's in what can be deemed as perfect health, is she not?"

"Yes, but when Phlox first checked her over, he only checked over if she was alive and, well, hydrated. We need to know if there's anything wrong with her. For all we know, she could carry a deadly disease, or have a disability."

"Why should her having some sort of disability matter? She would still be our child!" Trip countered, anger showing through in his voice.

Jon rubbed his face, "Because if she does, you need to know how to control it and care for her. And before you start, yes I know you have T'Keira and you know how to raise children. Trip, I know you practically raised Lizzie on your own when you were a kid, but neither of you have dealt with a disabled child!"

Before either Trip or T'Pol could retort, Phlox's voice echoed through the room, "Would the Captain, Commander Tucker and sub-Commander T'Pol please report to the medical bay."

"After you."

**A/N2: So...thoughts? Reviews greatly appreciated! :) Oh, thought I might mention now that I'm moving to a different county in just over two weeks, so I might not be updating for, well, a while. Hopefully I'll have updated by the time we go, but if not…well, the fault is mine.**

**~Chaz~**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey peeps :) Sorry about the whole not – updated – reviewed – or – anything – to – do – with – fanfiction thing :/ Internet in Australia is be sucky. Like, seriously. We tried to sign up to an internet server called DoDo, and they totally f***ed us about _ That took about three weeks, but hey-ho, we're now set up with Telstra and have the wonderful internetty back! :D *victory dancing***

_**Songs:**_

_**Plumb – Cut. Ben Cocks – So Cold. Taylor Swift – Safe And Sound.**_

Trip and T'Pol walked down the halls of the Enterprise, their fingers twined, somewhat comforting each other. Jon walked beside them, awkwardly. He knew he'd over-reacted in telling the couple about their daughter, but he couldn't help it. Trip had been one of his best friends since…well, since forever. And T'Pol…well, he hated to admit it, but at one time, he'd sort of liked her.

He had to tell them the hard, cold truth, whether they – or even he – liked it or not.

They entered the medical bay in silence, and both Trip and T'Pol paused a moment, bracing themselves for what was to come. A curtain was pulled around One's bed, and the couple walked over to it, pulling back the curtain, and stepping into the bubble of One's mind-allowed safety.

There she sat, knees tucked to her chest, face buried in her legs, and her arms wrapped around her legs. Her cardigan was loosely draped over her shoulders, covering her bare back, and her long mousy hair fell over the front of her shoulders in tumbles.

Trip knelt down in front of her, and touched her clasped hands, "One? Hey, One it's me, Trip."

She looked up for the slightest nano-second, before shying backwards and recoiling back into herself.

In the time that Trip had been looking at his second – first? – daughter with a sorrowed look, T'Pol's mind had been reeling, and her eyes scanning One's body, looking for anything that could be deemed as a disability, or injury.

And there, on the backs of her legs, thin but prominent lines. Scars.

She almost crushed rips hand with her own as she squeezed it. She was angry. So, so angry. But as per normal, her face did nothing to show her inner turmoil, besides a slight clench of her teeth.

Outside the circle of the curtain, Jon spoke to Phlox in a hushed voice, "What's wrong?"

"The child…she has scars covering the whole of the back of her body."

"What? Can you tell what from?"

"Oh, easily. They are from a whip of some sort. Most likely a cattle whip."

"They were outlawed years ago. How could these people have had one?" Jon's face contorted in confusion, and before Phlox could attempt a reply, T'Pol called out in a weak voice, "Doctor…"

The two men looked at the curtain, and Phlox sighed, resigned. He went to where T'Pol and Trip stood, staring at the little girl, Jon following him a moment later.

He sighed at the sight, "Commander, Sub-commander." He greeted them, "I thought you being here might have helped her open up a little…"

T'Pol just looked at him, clearly indicating that she wanted him to just shut up. "Doctor, there are scars on her."

Trip's head flew round, confused, but Phlox nodded, "Yes. Yes, that's the reason I called you down."

"Doc, what happened to her?" Trip asked in a strangled voice, finally seeing the marks on One's body.

Phlox shook his head, and went to the little girl's side, "Can you stand up?"

She shook with fear, and looked at Phlox with her huge, blue eyes, uncoiling herself. She stood on the bed, balancing warily. She flitted between looking at the Doctor, Trip, the woman who looked a little like her, and the man who asked questions. "Please don't whip me." The whisper slipped from her lips like a slight winter breeze. Almost silent, but loud enough not to be.

"I won't, of course I won't." he replied to One. He reached up and gently removed the cardigan from One's shoulders, revealing her brutally scarred and welted back, as she flinched from him.

"One, can…can you turn, please?" he asked in a soft voice. Again, One glanced at him with fear, and did as he said. She stood there, clutching her arms together, and eyes filling with tears.

A gasp came from the lips of the Vulcan, slight as it was.

"One…" Trip whispered, and watched her turn her head to look at him, before flinging herself into his arms, burying her face into his shoulder, weeping. He held her tight, but loose enough that she would not feel pain.

"Who did this to her?" T'Pol managed to whisper out, her voice showing more emotions than her face ever could.

"We have to assume that whoever created her is responsible." Archer replied, gaining an agreeing nod from the Doctor. Trip looked at them despairingly, as T'Pol warily reached out to touch her daughter's shoulder in an attempt of comfort. Archer watched the moment in silence, before speaking again, "You need to tell her."

"T-tell m-me what?" One asked in a hoarse whisper, her blue eyes shining like crystal with tears.

"We'll, um, leave you to it." He said to the couple, before putting an arm behind Phlox's back, leading him through the curtain.

They looked at the curtain in a somewhat despairing expression, then at each other. Trip sighed, resigned. He pulled back a little from One, and made her sit down on the biobed.

She looked at them warily, and her breathing increased, "You're going to whip me, aren't you?"

Trip looked affronted, "No! No, we would never,_ never_ hurt you!"

"Why not?"

"You're a kid, One." Trip replied, as T'Pol put the small white cardigan back around One's shoulders, "And…and we're…" he trailed off, and looked at his wife, almost begging her internally to tell her.

T'Pol took a breath – something rare, even for her – and spoke in a clear, but calming voice, "We are your parents."

=A=

The children had eventually given in to their pain, and collapsed on the floor, hugging their legs to their chests, or scraping the floor with their nails.

Carson lay down his whip, and smiled at his work. The small children's backs bled in great gushes, and their blood fell to the floor in spatters. His face hardened and spoke in a harsh voice, "Get up."

They did as he asked, moving in rigid motions. As they turned to look at him, they saw the hate filing his eyes quicker than the tears filled in theirs. Silently, they turned their bodies to him

"Much as I would love to kill you all slowly, painfully, I cannot." He paused, as if waiting for them to ask why, but the question never came. Instead, he carried on, "You are going to be going through training. All day, every day, and you are not going to argue. Is that understood?"

They nodded, tears still streaming down their innocent faces.

"You are going to be the downfall of the alliance between Aliens and Terrans."

Four, the youngest, sucked in a deep breath, wiped away her tears, and asked in as strong a voice as she could manage, "How, sir?"

He grinned maliciously, "You are going to kill One." And then he turned, leaving the children alone to their thoughts, and looking at each other desperately.

A moment later, their carers entered the room, guided each child to their rooms, and tended to the brutal wounds on their backs.

Much as the carers disliked them, they knew the children had to be fit and ready for training. They couldn't very well be if they gained an infection.

Paxton smiled as he watched them through their windows. "Tomorrow, it begins."

**A/N2: Wow this chapter was hard to write…Still, I hope it lives up to everyone's expectations :) Reviews as always are greatly appreciated! Also, PM me if you'd like to read an excerpt of the novel that I am writing. **

**Much loves!**

**~Chaz~**


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